Connor Lassiter
'''Connor Lassiter', famously known as the "Akron AWOL", is a former AWOL fugitive who was hunted down by Proactive Citizenry and the National Juvenile Authority for his acts against unwinding. Set to be unwound when he was sixteen, he was able to run away, had at one point led the Whollies of the Graveyard, and, through it all, became the face of anti-unwinding activities. He became one of the key players to putting an end to unwinding, all the while still being on the run from their enemies. Biography History When Connor was sixteen, while looking for a stapler in his dad's home office, he found airplane tickets to the Bahamas where they were planning on going for a family vacation over Thanksgiving break. But when he realized there were only three tickets—for his parents and brother—he, Connor initially thought that his ticket had simply been misplaced. He went looking for it and, instead, found the unwind order, signed in old-fashioned triplicate—the yellow copy that would accompany Connor to his end, and the pink that would stay with his parents, the white copy already gone off with the authorities. The date on the order was the day before the flight to Bahamas. The unfairness of it had made Connor want to break something—but he didn't. He held his temper and kept his emotions hidden. He kept what he knew to himself, kept it even from his parents. He decided that he would "kill his parents with kindness." Connor remained on his his best behavior: bringing home flowers for his mother, which she cried over for hours, bringing home a science test with a B-plus, the best grade he had ever gotten in science, which made his father confused and lost in thought. Connor's motivation was simple: make them suffer and hopefully regret their decision—let them know for the rest of their lives what a horrible mistake they made. Kicking AWOL Three weeks after finding his unwinding order, Connor finally told his girlfriend, Ariana, who offered to go AWOL with him. Overjoyed, Connor agreed and prepared. That evening, Connor packed his bags and left for Ariana's house. Upon arriving, Ariana suddenly rebuffed him, saying she can't go with him as she still has a life. work in progress Running the Graveyard After the clappers' explosions in the Happy Jack Harvest Camp, Connor was presumed to be dead. In the hospital, he was given the identity of Officer E. Robert Mullard, a guard who worked at the harvest camp who did die in the incident, possibly by people sympathetic to Unwinds and may even be part of the ADR. Trip back to Akron work in progress Ending unwinding work in progress Disappearance After the Uprising, he and Risa testified before Congress and shamed the lawmakers into making the moratorium on unwinding permanent. They also appeared on a live TV interview where someone came in with a gun and attempted to assassinate them, killing the host instead. Connor and Risa were spirited off stage by security and have not been seen since. It is implied that they have gone into Witness Protection and are now living in the Mediterranean under new identities and saving AWOLs in countries that still Unwind.UnBound Personality Once a rebellious teenager who sought fights at school and with his parents, Connor was known to be stubborn. Connor was also very temperamental, easily angered and often loses his temper, as well as impulsive. He admits to all these faults, unable to explain or understand them himself. Throughout his time as an AWOL and a fugitive, however, Connor undergoes drastic personality changes that improves himself for the best with the support of his friends and comrades. Connor slowly learned to control his temper and be more rational about things. Connor changes from being an out-of-control, relentless teenager who acts out without thinking of the consequences to a person who contains his rage enough to rationalize and see the dangers hidden in every situation, mostly through the help and guidance of Risa. Connor has proven himself to be quite clever and a strong leader. He manages to easily and quickly adapt to different situations, and is always determined to do the right thing, no matter the danger. He is loyal, passionate, responsible, unrelenting when he sets his heart to something, and is a fighter whose voice can be quite influential if he wants it to be. Nonetheless, Connor is in fact too humble to admit all that to himself. He is also quite brooding and, occasionally, self-loathing due to everything he's been through. During the days before he was an Unwind, his hiding place was a ledge of a freeway overpass, right behind the exit sign. For Connor, it's not about stupidity or rebellion, it's about feeling life. It is where he feels most comfortable. Also, Connor was never into his generation's trends, like getting tattoos or pigment injections, pointing out that the only time he would have any different color on his skin is during the summer when he gets suntanned. Physical description Connor has brown eyes and hair usually tousled and messy. After the clapper incident at Happy Jack, Connor obtained scars on the right side of his face, an unwound eye, which matched his own, and an unwound right arm, particularly Roland's with the tiger shark tattoo. When he was unwound by UNIS and rewound by surgeons, Connor was left with seams all over his body. Relationships Love Interests Risa Ward Connor and Risa are a couple, fully committed and in love with one another. Connor goes so far as to say that she is the only girl he ever truly loved. While their relationship was rocky at first, wherein they mostly stuck together out of need for someone to hold onto for support, the two proved to be a good team. As they spent more and more time together, attraction became inevitable and both finally gave into their emotions when they were both captured and brought to a harvest camp. Ariana During their relationship, Ariana is the first and only girl Connor has ever brought to his hiding place, the freeway overpass ledge. Although Ariana's parents do not approve of Connor, always referring to him as "that Lassiter boy" and have long predicted his unwinding, they continue to see each other. Whe she finds out that Connor's parents have signed the Unwind order, Ariana also becomes quite upset and tries to comfort him, Ariana giving Connor the feeling of safety for a while. When she then suggests that they run away and kick-AWOL together, Connor is moved beyond words and feels like the luckiest guy in the world. The mere idea of kicking-AWOL by himself terrifies him, but the thought of being with Ariana gave him hope and confidence. Later though, when Connor comes for her, it is shown that her words may only have been a spur of the moment because she regretfully turns him down, saying that she is still intent on school, that she is about to test out, and that she was to be her sister's maid of honor on her wedding. When Connor realizes that she's bailing on him, he still lets her say her piece even if she doesn't have to because he already knows because he sees how hard it is for her, and he wants it to be the hardest thing she's ever done in her life. When Connor points out that running away is the only way to save his life because he's about to be unwound, Ariana apologetically retorts that she, unlike him, isn't about to be unwound. He tells her that he knows someone as smart as him will get away and has a decent chance of surviving to eighteen and even asks him to call him once he's somewhere safe. Later, at Sonia's store, he considers writing a letter to Ariana but realizes that it's pointless to write to her and stops. In Undivided he returns to the freeway overpass remembering they're last meeting there as well as her backing out of kicking AWOL with him. Connor was angry at her that night, and he held on to that anger for a long time. Later on however he became more angry with himself for wanting her to join in his seedy fugitive life as pure selfishness. That if he truly cared for her, he would have protected her from it, rather then pull her into it. Friends Lev Calder Was rescued by Connor from allowing himself to be tithed. Lev reunited with him in Unwholly saving his life from Nelson. They become best friends, having a brotherly relationship. In UnDivided before Connor and Risa part ways with him Lev thanks Connor for saving him 2 years ago. Having Connor see that, while he might have grabbed Lev out of desperation, he held on to him out of compassion, although he really didn't know this at the time. Hayden Connor had met Hayden when he was hidden at Sonia's antique shop. He, along with Roland and Mai, were hidden in the shop's basement. Connor thinks the kid came from big money, which he did. He learned Hayden was in the middle of a big custody battle after his parents were divorced. He was then sent to be unwound when both of his parents agreed they'd rather see Hayden unwound than the other having custody. Connor explains he doesn't like the snobby kids from rich families, but says there's something about Hayden that makes it impossible not to like him. Hayden was also one of the four kids that were in Connor's crate of four when they were shipped to the Graveyard. Family Connor generally had a complicated relationship with his family. Being the 'troubled' teen he was, he got into a lot of trouble at school and, when not in the mood, he brings those problems home. He gets into arguments with his parents, which probably resulted in their decision to have him unwound. When Connor finds the Unwind order and his family's tickets to Bahamas, he realizes that his family will be on a vacation while he meets his doom. Instead of giving into his temper, like he usually did, he decided to silently "make them suffer" and let them regret their decision by showing them what they would lose. It works for a while but seemingly does not change the decision of his parents. Despite their decision to unwind him, Connor finds that he still loves and misses his parents, despite also being angry at them. Along with this, Connor feels the same way about his brother: while he loves and cares for him, Connor can't help but feel resentment towards him for being the child his parents chose to keep. Throughout his time as an AWOL, memories of his family continued to haunt him; he would even see his parents and brother in other people at times and was constantly reminded of them. Unbeknownst to him, Connor affected his parents more than he thought. His parents regretted their decision almost immediately after he kicked AWOL, to the point where they never even took the vacation to the Bahamas. While Connor intended to confront his parents, he never had the chance until the All Saints' Uprising, when his parents attended to take a stand against unwinding. The family was reunited, with his parents expressing their remorse for what they had done. While Connor did not say it out loud, he was, and had always been, willing to try and forgive them as long as his parents fought for it. Trivia * The exact address of the house he used to live in with his family was 3048 Rosenstock Rd., Columbus, Ohio 43017. * The name of the street where the Lassiters lived in was derived from a fan of Neal Shusterman on his Facebook page. He was named after Ben Rosenstock.Request postReveal post References de:Connor Lassiter Category:Characters Category:Male characters Category:Unwind characters Category:UnWholly characters Category:UnSouled characters Category:UnDivided characters